Perennial Cycle

Anyone who has stopped into our shop on Hennepin Avenue (or browsed our website, for that matter) knows for a fact that we absolutely love bicycle bags. We have bags to fit just about any bike, and our selection of Brompton-specific bags is especially formidable. So we were thrilled to find out that Souma, a tiny company operating out of the Czech Republic, is making a handlebar bag that's unlike any the ones we were already stocking. We knew we had to get them in the store!

There are many handlebar bags that could be used on a Brompton, but nearly all of them fit weirdly, or get in the way somehow, or simply flop awkwardly onto the concrete when you're folding the bike. These Souma bags, on the other hand, perfectly fill the unused space in the middle of your M- or H-type Brompton handlebars. They're easy to mount up with four leather straps and four heavy duty snaps. They don't flop around or interfere with the fold, and they keep your essentials within easy reach. A snap closure keeps your stuff inside when the bike is folded and the bag is upside down. It's a design that we've never seen before, and as soon as we saw it we wondered why the heck nobody had thought of it until now.

Handmade in Brno, Czech Republic from full-grain leather, Souma bags are available in two versions to fit either your pre-2017 or current model M/H bar (for those who don't know, Brompton modified the shape of the M/H handlebar back in 2017 - see photos for clarification). The 2017 version is slightly smaller to fit the updated handlebar, and comes in three colors: Topaz (which matches Brooks "Honey" saddles), Brown, and Black. Folks with pre-2017 bikes can choose a brown or black bag.

If you need color suggestions: Topaz looks especially nice with softer colors like grey and turkish green. Brown looks excellent on our nickel edition bikes. When in doubt, black looks good with everything (but we like it especially well with bright colors such as red or lime). Like any quality leather good, your Souma bag will acquire a unique and beautiful patina with time and use, so buy it, use it, and love it and know that you're only making it look cooler. Click here to check out Souma bags on our website.

Wrapping up 2016 brings me to a thankful place. A year ago the shop was getting close to a name change that left a lot of unknowns and concerns about the upcoming season at Perennial Cycle. No matter how sure I was about the name change being the right thing to do, it's hard to whack nearly 25 years of branding off the shelf and not have some concerns about the transition.
Well, the new sign went up last week and this nearly finalizes the transition away from Calhoun Cycle and onto our newer, better Perennial Cycle. All I can say is Thank You!! The transition has gone very well and the grumbling trolls moved on quickly while the supporters of the name change continue to show their support by joining our customer base. We all really appreciate the support. It's a fun place to work and thanks to our customers, we get to keep our jobs : )
You have all shown me that hope is a reasonable feeling to have. I cannot thank you enough for that.

Calhoun Cycle is proud to announce that we are changing our name to Perennial Cycle.

The name Calhoun Cycle was inherited decades ago when it originated as Calhoun Cycle Cellar, a modest bike rental shop with a cigar box for a cash register. Over the years the name Calhoun Cycle has served us well. To our cycling commuter customers we love so dearly, it has come to represent our goals for the bicycle as a pragmatic and sustainable means of alternative daily transportation. Given these goals, we have found the ethics of Calhoun Cycle at odds with the unethical history of the Calhoun name. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the history and heritage of Mr. John C. Calhoun, and feel an undeniable need to separate ourselves from that history.

The name Calhoun represents a shameful past of institutional racism perceived as a “positive good”, and the misguided cultural colonialism of renaming a lake after an undeserving man. We cannot go back and change our past, but we can learn from it and from our mistakes, and attempt to right our wrongs.

Therefore, we are consciously removing Calhoun from our company name and have chosen the new name Perennial Cycle to best represent our values. When something is perennial it is enduring, it is sustainable and it lives in an unending cycle. Perennial is the flora that surrounds us, which we depend on for our own sustainable existence. And like the tulips, crocus, and basque flowers pushing their way up through the snow, nothing gives us more pleasure in the Minnesota springtime than to also see our robust perennial cycling community bloom to life once again.

We thank you all for your support over the years we’ve spent together, and for supporting us in our strategic decision to kill Calhoun.

I'd like to thank our world class customers for helping to make 2014 a great season. It has been a very rewarding year at the shop. A great mix of social rides, a high volume of repair projects and a world of people riding their bikes (new and old) into the shop in need... Racks, bags, baskets, tires, tubes, power-assists, apparel and on and on. Perennial Cycle is truly blessed to have so many customers that ride their bikes every day!
To top off the 2014 season, Perennial Cycle has been nominated with just 4 other shops across the country as the BEST URBAN/LIFESTYLE Bike Shop by THE cycle industry magazine—Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, also known as BRAIN—as a part of Interbike's first annual industry awards gala. Known as the IB Awards, the event will celebrate the bike industry's success and innovation. This is a great honor for us and it's all thanks to YOU, our fabulous customers that are willing to look at the bicycle as a transportation tool as well as a fine way to get some exercise.
A complete list of nominees in all categories is available here (PDF). Categories for the retailer awards include Best Urban/Lifestyle Shop, Best Pro Road Shop, Best Mountain Bike Shop, among others, with five nominees within each category. Winners will be announced at the IB Awards in Las Vegas, Thursday, September 11, 2014.
Thanks to all of you great customers as well as the fabulous staff of Perennial Cycle for making this possible.
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